Horses in garden. Are we responsible

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KrujaaLass

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Went to our field today and told by neighbour our horses had been in anothers neighbours garden and to go see her. Saw where they had got through. Somehow they had manged to trash down bushes and brambles and entered a garden which we did not know was there. Thought the railway fence ran along that bit. The fence had apparently blown down sometime before and they made their way in to back bit which neighbours did not use. Unfortunately they went onto their lawn and made a mess of it. She said that they had been there before. But why hadnt she told us and we would have done something about it. we were very apologetic and have done our best to stop them doing it again but wondered if we could be liable for damage to lawn. She has a gardener and wondered if they might say at later date they need new lawn. Daughter says give her some flowers. what do you guys think. We tried to rectify lawn best we could.
 
Tricky one - if you own the horse you are responsible for any damage it does and would be liable to pay. However, I'm sure I read somewhere that ultimately, the landowner is responsible for any horses on their property, and by this argument, they should be responsible as the horse has escaped from their premises.
Either way, you should always make sure you have 3rd party liability insurance for any horses under your care, at least that way you are covered.
This costs about £60 a year through the BHS gold membership.
 
I think morally you should put right the damage. I'd want neighbours on my side if there was ever a problem and I wouldn't hold it against her or think it odd she didn't let you its happened before as she maybe not wanting to worry / upset you etc etc and if there was no damage last time she may have just thought oh well its a one off.

I'd also let the railway people know as broken fence giving access to the lines ( if it does ) is a hazard.

Once the fence is robust enough it shouldn't happen again, good luck.
 
Same thing happened to me one. Apologised profusely etc etc, and we had to roller her lawn, purely as mentioned above, we wanted neighbours on our side, and she wanted us to do it! Wouldn't imagine a new lawn would be necessary though

bexcy-bee x
 
Who is responsible for the upkeep of the boundary fence? If it's your fence then you would be liable but if it's the neighbour's fence then they would be. Also the fact that the horses have got through before and you weren't informed could be seen as them accepting liability or at least recinding yours.
 
Railway fence was not broken. we just assumed all gardens were same length but this one was longer and went down side of field with railway fence behind it. Thanks for replies
 
Yes you are responsible in short.

This has happened to me and some flowers and a bottle of wine sorted it out, as did electrifying the fences (mine had broken through post and rail).
 
celfyddydau said:
Who is responsible for the upkeep of the boundary fence? If it's your fence then you would be liable but if it's the neighbour's fence then they would be. Also the fact that the horses have got through before and you weren't informed could be seen as them accepting liability or at least recinding yours.
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Doesn't matter about who owns the boundary fence, its a legal requirement to fence your own stock safely. (this is not a pop at the OP!)

The boundary between me & next door fields is theirs (as titled) but I have a full height stock proof fence set just less than a foot inside it, mainly as the boundary is poorly maintained..... won't risk others getting into my fields & causing havoc
 
It was their fence that had blown down. When we went into bramble and bushes there was an old broken barbed wire fence. Weve tried to fix it. there was an old roller in their garden shall we offer to roll it or leave it for now. We said any problems let us know
 
I would think that all the lawn needs is a good roll. I'm often amazed at how our paddock recovers after the winter, even without rolling the little hoofprints disappear. Methinks flowers and wine are in order, and I'd replace the fencing with somethiing suitable whether or not it is 'your' fence.
 
but wondered if we could be liable for damage to lawn
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Yep. It's your job to keep the animals in - so regardless of what fencing the home owner has, it's your job to make sure you secure the boundry adeqautely yourself.
 
celfyddydau said:
Who is responsible for the upkeep of the boundary fence? If it's your fence then you would be liable but if it's the neighbour's fence then they would be. Also the fact that the horses have got through before and you weren't informed could be seen as them accepting liability or at least recinding yours.
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This. I would not offer anything as this could be construed and accepting liability but make sure the hole is well and truly fixed so it cannot happen again.
 
Weve blocked the hole where they got through the bushes but its about six fence panels that were down. It appears horses before may have tried because we found some rope across some trees
 
I'm not sure but I think the rules of strict liability apply.

If an animal does something which could be predicted then your are responsible. A horse going through a hole in the fence would be seen as the horse doing something that could be predicted so yes the responsibility is not with the garden owner.

The person responsible for the horse would usually be held liable together with the landowner where the horses were grazing.

On a general note, I would never put a horse into a field before I had walked and tested he boundary.

Agree that some wine/flowers and offering to repair the damage should be sufficient.
 
The thing is there was dense prickles and brambles. We did not even know there was a garden there. Not trying to excuse ourselves . The railway fence runs along side of the brambles and we assumed wrongly that it went up to back of gardens but this garden was longer so the fence went round the back of it. Found old barbed wire fence in brambles.Lucky really that they werent injured. Hopefully everythings OK now and they wont be paying the neighbours anymore midnight visits
 
KrujaaLass said:
Weve blocked the hole where they got through the bushes but its about six fence panels that were down. It appears horses before may have tried because we found some rope across some trees
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I understand about not accepting blame in case it goes to court etc, but at the end of the day her horses damaged the lawn and they've already apologised. If you make good the damage and drop round some flowers/wine/chocs etc you can keep relations good so that it never needs to get to the liability stage...
 
If you're horses are not securely fenced in (sorry.. if you have 'only brambles and a broken barbed wire fence' that's not secure-or SAFE for your horses...) its your fault any damge they cause..
 
There is a seven foot high wire fence around the field with trees, brambles and bushes in front of it. They are so dense that we could not see behind them. We wrongly thought that the fence continued behind them but it changed direction and went behind this garden.
 
Is it the same rules for dogs. Daughters neighbours trees broke down fence in gales. They never repaired it . Then they acquired a Akita/Rottwieler that came into our garden and was watching us through french doors. When spoke to neighbour expressing our concerns got nothing but abuse. We have had to re fence garden due to daughter having 2 very young children. What happens in this situation. Are people supposed to keep their dogs in their own gardens or do you have to do fencing to keep them out. We had to do fencing because of risk to children but were these people not required to keep their dog safe.
 
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